Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A number of scientific methods have been developed to detect and/or measure one or more physiological properties of a human. Some of these methods can be implemented in the form of portable, low-power sensing devices. Such sensing devices can be included in wearable devices that can be mounted to a human body to enable continuous sensing detection and/or measurement of the one or more physiological properties.
Wearable devices may be used to obtain information about the wearer's physical activity and/or health state. For example, a wearable device may include one or more motion sensors, such as an accelerometer or gyroscope, in order to detect movements of the wearer and determine the wearer's level of physical activity (e.g., in terms of steps taken or calories burned). Alternatively or additionally, a wearable device may include one or more biological sensors that measure biological parameters of the wearer. The measured biological parameters could include pulse rate, blood oxygenation (oximetry), blood pressure, skin temperature, galvanic skin response (GSR), or other parameters that may relate to the wearer's level of physical exertion.
Small consumer devices typically run on batteries and have complex hardware and software subsystems. Circumstances can cause these subsystems to get into a fault state. Correcting the fault state may require restarting the device by power cycling the device. For some devices, a power cycle can be initiated by removing the battery, waiting for any internal electronics to discharge, then reinstalling the battery. In some devices, a small recessed button may be provided that can be depressed to initiate a reset, such as by using a paperclip.